The following are program notes for the concert with the Zukerman ChamberPlayers and pianist Yefim Bronfman (pictured) at the 92nd Street Y on March 22, 2009.

WOLFGANG AMADEUS MOZART
Born Salzburg, Austria, January 27, 1756; died Vienna, December 5, 1791

Quartet for Piano and Strings in E-flat Major, K. 493
Composed in 1786; 27 minutes

On June 3, 1786, one month after the triumphant premiere in Vienna of The Marriage of Figaro, Mozart put the finishing touches on the second of his two great quartets for piano and strings. Its predecessor, in the characteristically “tragic” key of G minor, had been criticized by the publisher as excessively difficult to play, and hence to sell to the music-buying public. Franz Anton Hoffmeister reportedly advised the composer to “write in a more popular vein, otherwise I shan’t be able to publish and pay for any more of your works.” To which Mozart is said to have retorted, “In that case I shan’t earn any more and shall starve, but I don’t care.” Although the story is probably apocryphal, it may contain a nugget of truth: Mozart was hard up at the time and approached Hoffmeister for a loan. In any case, he apparently responded to his publisher’s ultimatum by wiggling out of his contract (he had originally agreed to supply several piano quartets for the burgeoning amateur market) and placing the E-flat Major Quartet, K. 493 in more appreciative hands.

Despite its sunnier disposition, K. 493 makes no more concession to amateur-grade technique than the G minor Quartet, at least as far as the keyboard part is concerned. The two outer movements—marked Allegro and Allegretto, respectively—sport long stretches of bracing duple-time passagework designed to show off both the pianist’s accuracy and agility. (That pianist was, of course, Mozart himself.) Departing from the conventional 18th-century continuo model, Mozart makes the pianist a full-fledged partner in the ensemble. Indeed, the original publication was advertised as being scored “for harpsichord or piano with violin, viola and cello accompaniment,” no doubt to avoid scaring off less-proficient string players. Much of the keyboard writing is mercilessly exposed, the lack of harmonic “filler” giving the music an extra measure of transparency.

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